Thursday, 19 September 2013

Spring news

Winter is at an end and, hopefully, mild blissful summer days lying ahead. Time to pull out the 'ol' lady' and give her a good debriefing for the outings ahead. I'm not saying that nobody ventured out during the winter, but summer always brings visions of lazy days in the country and more comfortable clothing (getting in and out of an E-Type or Healey with all the winter woolies can be quite an experience!).

During one such winter outing, the Jaguar Club met at Leopard's Lodge near Hartebeespoort Dam, and my E-type (among others) appeared in Volume 8 of 'Jaguar Magazine'. The day was glorious with Vultures soaring over-head, the cars being dwarfed by the majestic cliffs behind the Lodge. Here are some of the pics taken that day.

This picture of Dave Clarkson’s 1966 Jaguar E-type 4.2 Series I appeared in Volume 8 of ‘Jaguar Magazine' during a club visit to Leopard Lodge at Hartebeespoort Dam.

Leopard Lodge

The view

Dining

Interior of the 1966 Jaguar E-type 4.2

JAGUAR E-TYPE INFO
The Jaguar E-type was an instant classic, an exercise in cool aerodynamic theory and unashamed showmanship, producing probably the most beautiful sports car of the 60s. It had the ability to live up to the looks, too. The 150mph (241kph) that Jaguar claimed for the E-type was devastatingly quick in 1961 (in reality only the tweaked-up press cars could achieve it, and 140 (225kph) was nearer the truth), making the new Jaguar Britain's fastest production car. Better still, it was probably Britain's greatest bargain price-wise, undercutting its nearest rival, the Aston Martin DB4, by a third.

That curvy shell, inspired by the Le Mans-winning D-Type racer, was immensely stiff - all the better to take advantage of its new wishbone and coil-spring independent rear suspension.

Combining near-limousine ride comfort with vice-like grip, even on the slender cross-ply tyres that looked like something off a bike to modern eyes, the new Jaguar handled superbly.

Providing the power was the 3.8-litre XK engine, already 13 years old but still well worthy of the new chassis.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - NEVER MESS WITH A WOMAN DRIVER!
A woman and a man are involved in a car accident; it's a bad one. Both of their cars are totally demolished, but amazingly, neither of them are hurt. After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says, "So you're a man. That's interesting. I'm a woman. Wow, just look at our cars! there's nothing left, but we're unhurt. this must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days."

Flattered, the man replies' "Oh yes, I agree with you completely, this must be a sign from God!"

The woman continues, "and look at this, here's another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely god wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune."

Then she hands the bottle to the man.

The man nods his head in agreement, opens it and drinks half the bottle and then hands it back to the woman. The woman takes the bottle and immediately puts the cap back on and hands it back to the man.